By a vote of 4 to 3, the Kosciusko County Council approved County Assessor Laurie Renier’s request to contract with Pictometry International Corp. for aerial photography of the county. The council had discussed the request in September and again in June. The cost is $214,869.20, and the contract is for up to three flyovers over the next six years. At the June meeting, Councilman Jim Moyer said he would rather spend the money on hiring additional inspectors for property visits because you can’t tell everything about a property from photos. Last night, John Beer, a real estate appraisal who also works in the trending department of the county assessor’s office, explained what the expense would be to hire the necessary additional inspectors. Beer said 34 part-time employees would need to be hired, and each would work 825 hours a year at $9.38 per hour. The county limits part-time help to 25 hours a week. Total cost would be $264,115. The county would then need to rent 11 cars a day at $340 per day, or $56,000 per year. Approximately 9,400 properties are assessed per cycle and are governed by state law. With the Pictometry aerial photos, Renier said no new staff would have to be added to current eight. Her office would only have to spend $100,000 a year to do an effective job with Pictometry. “I think it’s an excellent tool and I think we should have it,” remarked councilman Brad Tandy, saying he considers it cost effective. Councilman Doug Heinisch asked, “Is the revenue we’re bringing in more than the cost we’re inccurring?” Trent Pell, regional technical manager with Pictometry, said that basically depends and some counties do better than others. Pictometry currently is used by 47 of the 92 Indiana counties. Renier said the aerial photos the county has now are three years old and obsolete. She also said the funding for the aerial photography comes out of reassessment funds to be used for reassessing. In June, Renier told the council she has about $900,000 in her budget to cover the expense. Councilman Larry Teghtmeyer said, “it’s the same tax dollars and the same levy.” He also asked that besides the county assessor’s office, who was going to ensure that Kosciusko County citizens, as well as other county and city departments, can make use of it. Lowell Davis, Pictometry district manager, said the contract includes unlimited training and that they always encourage counties to bring them in to demonstrate it. “Someone needs to take charge and make sure there’s an orientation and training opportunity,” Teghtmeyer stated. Moyer said the pictures are only good for a day. In two years, they have to be thrown out and new ones have to be taken. Renier said they’re not thrown away and her office still uses old photos to compare changes made to properties. Moyer then said he disagreed with Beer’s assessment that the county would have to hire 34 part-time employees if it didn’t have the aerial photos. Additionally, he said the county wouldn’t rent cars, but pay mileage. Councilman Jon Fussle stated he “wasn’t buying into” the county needing pictures every two years. Davis indicated that if the county didn’t want the second and third flyover, the county wouldn’t have to have them or pay for them. There would be no penalties either. Teghtmeyer made the motion to approve the contract, based on the fact the county would see $200,000 in savings instead of increasing staff and there would be opportunities for other departments and the public to make use of it. Teghtmeyer, Tandy, President Bob Sanders and Jon Garber voted in favor of the contract. Voting against it were Moyer, Fussle and Heinisch. Moyer then told Renier her deadline to roll the reassessments to the county auditor was July 1. Renier said she would get them to Marsha McSherry by Aug. 1 as there has been a lot of changes and appeals. The council then informed her that, no, her deadline was July 1. The council also heard requests from not-for-profits for the 2014 budget. All but Kosciusko Economic Development Corp. requested increases. Requests included $51,574 from Kosciusko County Fair Board 4-H, up from $40,611 in 2013; KEDCo., $152,000; Cardinal Services, $108,001, up from $93,334 in 2013; Home Health Care & Hospice, $45,000, up from $42,750; Kosciusko County Historical Society, $21,600, up from $20,255; Beaman Home, $30,000, up from $28,573; Kosciusko County Council on Aging and Aged, $35,000, up from $28,573; St. Joe River Basin, $500, up from $450; Animal Welfare League, $81,857, up from $62,861. The grand total of projected increases is $70,915. All 10 personal property abatement continuances were approved. Companies requesting them included Louis Dreyfus, Maple Leaf Farms Inc., Midwest Rake Co., RR Donnelley Inc., Custom Engineered Wheels Inc., Precision Medical Technologies Inc., NG Instruments Inc. and three from Biomet. Attorney Steve Snyder was scheduled to make a request for a new abatement for Louis Dreyfus. However, since Snyder was not at the meeting, the request was tabled to the Aug. 8 meeting.
